seekandlisten said:
I'm not asking that anyone buy into anything. I merely want those that oppose to give me there thoughts one it. It's a method of learning for me that I cannot explain other than I believe in getting the opposing sides view on matters. I am quite aware that there will not be many who claim to be Christians that accept this gospel.
I also read portions of it and other so-called Gospel books back in my younger years. I would also include it in the category of Gnostic writings. The doctrines of Gnosticism are still alive today in some 'so-called' Christian Churches.
A bit of research on Gnosticism will show a connection with the philosophies of the ancient mystery religions. Philo of Alexandria used Greek philosophy and the mysticism of the Jewish Kabbalah to add allegorical meanings to the Old Testament where none existed. Do ideas from works like 'The Davinci Code' ring a modern day bell with that early Gnostic movement? It should.
GNOSTICISM
Dr. Orr writes, "Gnosticism may be described generally as the fantastic product of the blending of certain Christian ideas-particularly that of redemption through Christ-with speculation and imaginings derived from a medley of sources (Greek, Jewish, Parsic; philosophies; religions, theosophies, mysteries) in a period when the human mind was in a kind of ferment, and when opinions of every sort were jumbled together in an unimaginable welter. It involves, as the name denotes, a claim to 'knowledge,' knowledge of a kind of which the ordinary believer was incapable, and in the possession of which 'salvation' in the full sense consisted. This knowledge of which the Gnostic boasted, related to the subjects ordinarily treated of in religious philosophy; Gnosticism was a species of religious philosophy" (The Early Church, 71).
Neander has described Gnosticism as "the first notable attempt to introduce into Christianity the existing elements of mental culture, and to render it more complete on the hitherto rather neglected side of theoretical knowledge; it was an attempt of the mind of the ancient world in its yearning after knowledge, and in its dissatisfaction with the present, to bring within its grasp and to appropriate the treasures of this kind which christianity presented" (Antignostikus, Intro, 199).
Gnosticism accordingly comprehends in itself many previously existing tendencies; it is an amalgam into which quite a number of different elements have been fused. A heretical system of thought, at once subtle, speculative and elaborate,
it endeavored to introduce into Christianity a so-called higher knowledge, which was grounded partly on the philosophic creed in which Greeks and Romans had taken refuge consequent on the gradual decay and breaking-up of their own religions, partly, as will be shown, on the philosophies of Plato and of Philo, and still more on the philosophies and theosophies and religions of the East, especially those of Persia and of India.
"For a long time the pagan beliefs had ceased to be taken seriously by thoughtful men and had been displaced by various creeds derived from philosophical speculation. These in themselves were abstract and unsatisfying, but had been partly vitalized by union with the theosophies of the East. An attempt was made on the part of this philosophical religion to effect an alliance with Christianity. A section of the church was dissatisfied with the simplicity of the gospel, and sought to advance to something higher by adopting the current speculations ..... The late books of the New Testament are all occupied, more or less, with this movement, which was the more dangerous as it threatened the church from within" (Professor E. Scott, The Apologetic of the New Testament, 14).
(from International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, Electronic Database Copyright (c)1996 by Biblesoft)
I'm well aware that still today, there are initiate fraternities which still teach a lot of the old Gnostic ideas. The reason is simple. It's because Gnosticism is just another later name for the ancient practice of esotericism, the occult, the old paganism of the mystery religions. The main difference with Gnosticism is it used certain doctrines of Christianity to make it easier for deceived Christians to swallow. Even their real interpretation of the Greek word 'gnosis' which Gnostic is based to them is about actually 'knowing' of God through 'direct experience', and not by Faith. That's an idea far away from the act of having Faith per Biblical doctrine. The Gnostics were not a new movement, for the even the Jewish ascetic sect called Essenes held many of the same type of ascetic practises and mystical speculating as the later Gnostics.
Although God's Word does reveal some very profound Truths about our Heavenly Father and His creation, that does not come through some ritual initiation via some oral tradition of mysteries by the initiated, but instead comes directly from God by The Holy Spirit Comforter through Faith on Him by His Son Jesus Christ, and of course, from simple study of His Word The Bible. And His Truth is of no private interpretation, as He gives it freely to those who seek Him in spirit and in Truth.
So what Gnosticism is actually about, is the knowledge of the tree of good and evil, a type of forbidden knowledge which the ancients sought in order to get power and wealth, and do an end-around God. It is essentially about the act of wanting to be one's own god, the sin Satan first rebelled in. And we can see those still influencing and practicing that stuff today, with the many added mystical interpretations of simple Bible allegories. The allegories in God's Word exist only to make a Message easier to understand. It does not mean they represent some higher form of 'gnosis' or hidden knowledge closed off to the profane uninitiated.
After reading all this, you might say something like you weren't talking about The Gospel of Thomas in association with Gnosticism and what it all it points to. I reserve the right to assume one of your reasons of bringing that work up in discussion here is to try and appease believers here into ideas where they don't know any better.
"The Infancy Gospel of Thomas" is what I'm referring to, which is available on that site you linked. We read some of these passages in my college bible classes, and I was quite shocked at them. They portray an angry, vengeful Jesus who is nothing like the Jesus of the NT...and one who uses his divine powers for personal gain...such as lengthening a piece of lumber that Joseph had cut too short in order to fix it. 
